


Light Up the Night (Such a Pretty Sight)

by Lady_Vibeke



Series: Cara Dune & Din Djarin: Tales of Two Space Idiots in Love [12]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Family Feels, Idiots in Love, Late Night Conversations, Literal Sleeping Together, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Storms, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23983684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Vibeke/pseuds/Lady_Vibeke
Summary: Din stepped forward into the flashes of the lightnings, bare feet touching the cold floor. Cara was barefoot, too, the large shirt she slept in brushing around her thighs while she swayed gently, humming a bewitching, melancholic song that had painted a serene smile on the kid's face.She sensed Din's presence and turned away so that he could come forward.The explosion of another thunder made the child cringe. Cara jumped, too, but kept rocking him softly, murmuring reassuringly in his ear.“I guess we both have a thing with storms,” she said with a smile as Din approached. Her eyes stayed on the child, but Din could see, in the glimpses of light from outside, how her smile spread wider when he stood beside her. The dimples in her cheeks made him want to stroke her face, just to see how they felt under his fingertips. He had felt that softness with his face, embracing her as they slept; he knew how her lips felt upon his chest from all the times she had curled herself against him, and she knew how Din's lips felt upon her because they would often touch her shoulders, not always inadvertently. What happened in the dark could stay in the dark.
Relationships: Baby Yoda & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), Baby Yoda (The Mandalorian TV) & Cara Dune, Baby Yoda (The Mandalorian TV) & Cara Dune & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), Cara Dune/The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)
Series: Cara Dune & Din Djarin: Tales of Two Space Idiots in Love [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709416
Comments: 22
Kudos: 140





	Light Up the Night (Such a Pretty Sight)

**Author's Note:**

> One more quote, one more quote-inspired oneshot. This is getting out of hand, guys.
> 
> Title from Adrenaline by Gavin Rossdale (yet another song I most definitely did NOT discover while watching videos of Gina Carano looking gorgeous while kicking ass).

> _There is a primal reassurance in being touched, in knowing that someone else, someone close to you, wants to be touching you. There is a bone-deep security that goes with the brush of a human hand, a silent, reflex-level affirmation that someone is near, that someone cares._
> 
> — Jim Butcher

***

  
  


The thunder shook Din out of his sleep.

He sat up with his heart hammering in his chest, the remnants of a foggy nightmare melting away as awareness crept back into his mind, bringing the room into focus by grades: the pale light from the neon linings on the floor, the heavy sound of the rain pouring over the ship, the smell of electricity filling up the air, the cold...

_The cold._

The cold was wrong.

His hand touched the empty bed at his side: there was no warmth left from Cara's presence in the crumpled sheets. How long had she been gone?

He got up, walking past his helmet on the floor. He never put it on if it was dark enough, and Cara wouldn't look, anyway. She was nowhere to be found and the child wasn't in his pram, either, so Din climbed down to the lower level, slightly concerned: Cara and storms didn't go well together. He was used to her sleeping by his side, by now: it had started months ago by chance, one night when Din had got up and found her curled in her bunk, sobbing quietly. He had asked no questions, though Cara had tried to offer an explanation about childhood traumas in between shivers, and had lain down with her for the rest of the night. With him by her side, the sobbing had gradually stopped and Cara had finally fallen asleep.

Ever since then, slowly and even a bit awkwardly, it had become a habit for them to share a bed – only during storms, at first, then more randomly, just because one of them didn't want to be lonely, or because they needed the comfort of each other's arms after a rough day. Sometimes, they would do it simply because it felt good. It felt natural.

So waking up without Cara during a raging storm was a big deal for him and he could _not_ worry until he found her in the cockpit, a shadow dancing by the view panel with the child snuggled against her chest, his big head nestled under her chin.

Din stepped forward into the flashes of the lightnings, bare feet touching the cold floor. Cara was barefoot, too, the large shirt she slept in brushing around her thighs while she swayed gently, humming a bewitching, melancholic song that had painted a serene smile on the kid's face.

She sensed Din's presence and turned away so that he could come closer.

The explosion of another thunder made the child cringe. Cara jumped, too, but kept rocking him softly, murmuring reassuringly in his ear.

“I guess we both have an issue with storms,” she said with a smile as Din approached. Her eyes stayed on the child, but Din could see, in the glimpses of light from outside, how her smile spread wider when he stood beside her. The dimples in her cheeks made him want to stroke her face, just to see how they felt under his fingertips. He had felt that softness with his face, embracing her as they slept; he knew how her lips felt upon his chest from all the times she had curled herself against him, and she knew how Din's lips felt upon her because they would often touch her shoulders, not always inadvertently. What happened in the dark could stay in the dark.

Din's hands glided up her forearms and cupped her elbows, thumbs brushing small circles on her kin.

“You should have come back to bed with him,” he whispered.

The warm breath from Cara's faint laugh spread goosebumps all over Din's arms. The kid cracked an eye open, as though sensing the subtle change in the atmosphere; Cara placed a hand on his head to keep him from turning just before another lightning filled the cockpit with light.

“We decided to try to face this loud, scary thing together. Didn't we, buddy?”

The child chirped lazily as he stirred, leaning into Cara's caress. Din brought up his hand to caress the kid's fuzzy head, too, his fingers and Cara's overlapping in one single motion.

Her smile grew brighter.

Din felt a sharp tug in his heart, something so peculiarly sweet and painful it made him step back and catch his breath, just as a particularly powerful thunder shook the cockpit.

The baby squirmed and Cara held him tighter, bouncing him lightly. Her shoulders had tensed for one moment, and the child had tensed, too; Din could tell she was doing her best to maintain her composure and it was a great credit, to her, that she was doing it so that the child could learn to feel safe in the deafening noise of a storm.

Din's smile came out accompanied by a fond sigh.

Sometimes he felt like these little moments alone were everything he needed to stay alive. Perhaps, even though it wasn't easy to admit, they were.

“You okay, there?”

It took Din a few seconds to realise she wasn't talking to the kid. He shook off his momentary haze and nodded.

“I'm... fine.”

Despite all she could see of him was a vague outline at the periphery of her sight, Cara knew immediately he was lying. Through the helmet or the darkness, she could always _see_ him.

“No, you're not,” she said. The roar of the rain was a relaxing canopy above and all around them.

She held out a hand to him.

“C'mon,” she grinned, eyes staring down at his feet. “Come here.”

Din didn't know what to do, what to expect from this. An unknown yearning was pulling strings inside him he had never been aware of, guiding his hand up to take Cara's, while his mind couldn't stop wondering: _'What is this?'_

Cara didn't grant him a single second to savour the feeling of their hands touching without any barrier. Din didn't even know why it felt so intense since they slept together, barely clothed, more often than they didn't. She pulled him forward, erasing the distance he had put between them, then closer again, until she could slip her arm around his waist.

The child cooed contentedly at the feeling of Din's body warming his back.

“It was easy, wasn't it?” Cara muttered with a small smile. “Just like we do in bed, but standing.”

It _was_ easy.

So easy it made Din wonder why it felt so complicated most of the time.

“Yes,” he agreed pensively. “It was.”

He didn't know where he found the courage to wrap his arms around Cara, to tug her head down to rest upon his shoulder. This time, at the crash of the next thunder, he was there to comfort the brief shudder in her body.

He hadn't realised until now how much holding her in his arms was as reassuring for him as it was for her, how his bed felt empty, now, without her sleeping by his side.

They kept swaying imperceptibly, a slow rocking back and forth, until the child fell asleep. Cara had closed her eyes a while ago, but Din couldn't bring himself to do the same. This was different – different than their nights of unspoken intimacy, shrouded by silence and darkness.

Another lightning showed him Cara's and the kid's peaceful faces. Another thunder rattled the world outside; the world inside the Razor Crest remained unbothered in its cocoon of warmth.

Cara was leaning comfortably against Din, just like they did in bed, when they felt they had a justification for every little _too much_ they shared – lying too close; holding each other too tight; touching each other too intimately. Din couldn't even remember when or how it had begun; all he knew was that he couldn't hear the sound of the rain any longer without feeling the instinctual urge to pull Cara into his arms.

His lips brushed against her forehead as he whispered: “We should go back to bed.”

Cara nuzzled her face in his shoulder with a weak groan.

“We need a bigger bunk.”

Din huffed out a breathless laugh.

Of all the responses he had expected, she had picked a surprising _unexpected_ – a direct acknowledgement rather than a dismissive joke. They did need a bigger bunk if this wasn't going to stop. He could only pray this wasn't going to stop. _Ever._

“We can get a bigger bunk,” he conceded, very pleased with how they were both using _we_ so casually and unflinchingly.

“Maybe a bigger shower.”

“There's nothing wrong with the size of the shower.”

Cara giggled. The soft press of her lips against his neck was too firm and long to be accidental.

“Don't worry,” she whispered in his ear. “You'll understand in due time.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> So, apparently the work-related stress brought some old nasty friends back from the grave and I'm having a pretty rough time with myself and writing is getting harder. I'm feeling a bit emotionally sterile and it felt good, today, to be able to write this and give myself some much needed comfort.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed the read. Drop a comment, make my day. ;)


End file.
